Unit Leadership

Professor Lindiwe Zungu is a multiple award-winning scholar, occupational health specialist, and research leader, currently serving as Director of the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Research Institute and Director of the SAMRC Extramural Research Unit (DHAIOH Unit) at the University of Venda. She holds a PhD in Occupational Health (2003) and completed advanced training in Clinical Scholars Research Training through Harvard Medical School (2018).

With more than twenty years of experience in occupational health, public health, and mining research, Professor Zungu has established herself as one of South Africa's leading experts in occupational health and safety in high-risk industries. She has led numerous large-scale research projects funded by MHSC, SAMRC, NRF, and other national stakeholders, generating evidence that has informed policy development, regulatory frameworks, Codes of Practice, and workplace interventions across the South African Mining Industry.

Her research focuses on occupational diseases, digital health and artificial intelligence, women's health and safety in mining, mental health and psychosocial wellbeing, occupational hygiene, environmental health, and health systems strengthening. Her work has directly contributed to national policy initiatives including gender-responsive occupational health interventions, women-specific PPE standards, and guidelines addressing gender-based violence in mining workplaces.

Professor Zungu has supervised and mentored more than 45 Master's and Doctoral graduates. Her distinguished contributions have been recognised through numerous national awards including the SAMRC Career Development Award, the DST Distinguished Woman Scientist Award, the TW Kambule-NSTF Award, the Feroza Adam Award, and the SAMRC Merit Award for Research Capacity Development and Transformation (2024/25).

Dr James Aluha is a Chief Research Scientist at Mintek with expertise in chemical engineering, materials science, and mining innovation. He holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from l'Université de Sherbrooke (Canada) and advanced degrees from the University of the Witwatersrand.

With over 15 years of experience, his work focuses on nanotechnology, sensor development, and AI-enabled systems for occupational health and safety in mining. He leads the development of real-time monitoring and predictive risk detection technologies, addressing critical challenges such as hazardous exposures and environmental safety.

His work bridges research and application, supporting industry innovation and technology transfer. Dr Aluha contributes strong engineering and innovation leadership to the DHAIOH Unit, ensuring solutions are practical, scalable, and responsive to real-world mining environments.